COLLEGE BASKETBALL; U.N.L.V. Under Federal Inquiry, Paper Says

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The seemingly endless problems surrounding the University of Nevada-Las Vegas men's basketball team may be getting deeper. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported yesterday that Federal authorities are investigating whether points were shaved in U.N.L.V. games during the 1990-91 season, including the Final Four game in which Nevada-Las Vegas lost to Duke, 79-77.

The paper, quoting an unidentified Federal law enforcement source, said the point-shaving investigation is part of an inquiry focusing on Richard Perry, a convicted sports fixer, and his relationship with some of the U.N.L.V. players.

Leland Lytfy, the Acting United States Attorney, declined to acknowledge that an investigation is under way. "It's policy of the department that we neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation," he said. "This is so innocent people who are investigated and later cleared are not hurt by the investigation."

Jerry Tarkanian, the Runnin' Rebels head coach, denied the point-shaving allegations and accused the school's administration of leaking information. In a column he writes for The Las Vegas Sun, Tarkanian accused the university's counsel, Brad Booke, of disclosing the information. Booke denied he was the source.

Booke has been cooperating with the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force in a Federal investigation of Perry, who has been linked to some Rebel players. Pictures published in The Review-Journal of Perry and several U.N.L.V. players relaxing in a hot tub eventually led to Tarkanian's decision to leave the university after this season.

Perry, who lives in Las Vegas, pleaded guilty in 1984 to Federal conspiracy charges related to the point-shaving scandal at Boston College. He was convicted in 1974 of fixing harness races in New York.

In an interview yesterday Tarkanian said: "How anyone can talk like that? We blew everyone out by 30 to 40 points all season, except the championship.

"I called the Federal strike force. They told me they can't say either way, whether they're investigating or not. But, they did say they didn't leak it to the press."

Before losing to Duke last April, the Rebels won 45 consecutive games, including 34 in the 1990-91 season. The Rebels won those 34 games by an average margin of 27 points a game.

This year's team is 20-2. 'We Just Lost, Period'

Robert Maxson, the U.N.L.V. president, said that he was concerned about the latest round of reports concerning the basketball program.

"We must remember there have been no allegations and I honestly hope there is no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of anyone connected with the university," he said.

A former Rebel player, Stacey Augmon, who was interviewed by telephone by The Review-Journal, called the reports of possible point-shaving "a joke."

"They keep trying to find a reason why we lost to Duke," he said. "But we just lost, period."

The newspaper said that Federal agents were also looking at players' checking accounts, whether Perry had placed or taken bets on U.N.L.V. and whether he or his associates had had access to the Nevada-Las Vegas locker room. Tarkanian told the newspaper that Perry was never in U.N.L.V.'s locker room during the season.

The Review-Journal also reported that the authorities were trying to determine whether Augmon went with Perry to Atlantic City after the loss to Duke. An executive at Trump Plaza, who insisted on anonymity, said authorities had inquired at the hotel about casino surveillance tapes that would have shown Augmon and Perry. Tarkanian in the Running

SAN DIEGO, Calif., Feb. 13 (Special to The New York Times) -- Jerry Tarkanian is the top candidate to become the new head basketball coach at San Diego State University, a person in the athletic department said today. But there is concern in the administration about reports of a Federal investigation into point shaving. Tarkanian will step down from his job at Nevada-Las Vegas on March 3. San Diego State dismissed Coach Jim Brandenburg Tuesday.